1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folding bed, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a folding bed which can be folded to afford easy portability and has an improved structure as compared to a folding bed of the prior art, to allow a user keep a comfortable and tranquil posture upon lying in the bed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Up to now, various types of a folding bed or a sofa-bed have been developed and used. However, these beds have complicated structures, so that folding procedures are much involved and portability and storage thereof are affected due to limitations in minimizing the volume of a bed. In addition, as a folding bed or a sofa-bed is manufactured to have a narrower width in view of portability, it is not uncommon to find the bed is not big enough to fully accommodate the whole body of a person, leaving a portion of the body hanging off the bed. Accordingly, the use of the bed becomes inconvenient. Also, in an extreme case, the user can fall out of the bed resulting in personal injury.
In the Korean Utility Model Publication No. 96-1441 filed by the applicant of the present invention, there is disclosed a folding bed to solve the problem described above. Referring to FIG. 1, the folding bed includes a seat 1 and a folding frame 2. The folding frame 2 has a plurality of legs 20 and a plurality of upper and lower connecting elements 30 which connect the plurality of legs 20 with one another. The plurality of legs 20 includes four legs having upper ends which extend slantingly and upward through the upper connecting elements 30 at corner portions and in a lengthwise direction of the bed. The plurality of legs 20 can be folded due to the fact that two adjacent and associated legs are also connected with each other substantially at their middle portions by a pin.
The seat 1 being made of fiber is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30 by fastening means such as bolts. The seat 1 has four pockets 1a, 1b, 1cand 1d which are formed at the corner portions of the bed and into which the upper ends of the four legs are inserted, respectively. A pair of guide bands 14 and 14' are stitched to two corner portions of the seat 1 at one end and run in the lengthwise direction of the bed, respectively. The other ends of the pair of guide bands 14 and 14' are stitched to the seat 1 at points where two upper connecting elements 30 adjacent to the other end of the bed are positioned parallel to each other. The pair of guide bands 14 and 14' pass through a pair of annular bands 15 and 15' which are stitched to the seat 1. A pair of support bands 16 are stitched to a lower surface and at a center portion of the seat 1 such that they cross each other. The drawing reference numeral 18 represents a binding string used for binding the bed which is folded for carrying or storage.
When a user lies in the seat 1 for sleep or rest, the pair of guide bands 14 and 14' prevent the user from falling out of the bed or a portion of the user's body such as the shoulder from hanging off the bed. Also, the pair of support bands 16 can prevent the seat 1 made of fiber, such as fabric, from excessive sagging. Therefore, a safety factor upon using the bed is increased.
However, the folding bed of the prior art constructed as mentioned above, suffers from defects in that since the pair of guide bands 14 and 14' are stitched to the seat 1 after passing through the pair of annular bands 15 and 15' and the seat 1 is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30 which are positioned adjacent to the one end of the bed by the separate fastening means such as bolts each having an eyelet, when a user lies in the seat 1 of the bed for sleep or rest, a weight of the user acts vertically and downward on the seat 1, and by this, the pair of guide bands 14 and 14' stitched to the seat 1 are expanded. Due to the weight of the user which acts continuously and vertically and the expansion of the pair of guide bands 14 and 14', a load is concentrated onto points where the seat 1 is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30. Therefore, the seat 1 is protruded upward by horizontal expanding force at the points where it is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30.
The protruded section of the seat 1 depresses a portion such as the pelvis or the back, of the body of the user who lies in the bed. Hence, inconvenience is caused to the user who sleeps and takes a rest for a long time, and reliability of the folding bed is deteriorated in that the user feels discomfort in some portions of the body after sleeping or taking a rest in an unstable posture.